England sinking – controversial official report confirms
It has long been recognised that the north-west of Britain is rising and the south-east is sinking – due to a geological process called ‘isostatic rebound’. The cause is a response firstly to the covering of the northern areas with thick ice sheets during the last glaciation and the resultant sinking. Over the thousands of years since the ice retreated [for now at any rate], the north-western areas have been recovering and rising, with the south-east like the opposite end of a see-saw, going back down. With middle England the fulcrum of the see-saw, this, combined with sea level rise, has made the areas around London and south-eastern England increasingly vulnerable to coastal inundation – part of an increasing global problem.
